Customer Commitment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Customer Commitment - Essay Example roll’s guitar, on a scale of 1 to 10 the ethical breach would be 9 since it is clearly very unethical for a company to ignore repeated consumer complaints, especially when the services provided by United Airlines includes the comfort and satisfaction of their passengers. Since Mr. Carroll has already sent complaint letters multiple times, the best course of action to pacify him and come to agreement on how the complaints will be settled without the company having to admit total fault and giving his demands is by sending him an apologetic reply immediately and inviting him for a personal dialogue concerning his complaints and the possibility of settling the issue and gaining his trust back. This step can be further guided by Maxham & Netemeyer’s ethics process model (2003) which is customer-centered by putting all customers in the shoes of their clients, so that they could empathize with them and provide appropriate responses. It is expected to provide favorable outcomes for both United Airlines and Mr. Carroll if executed properly. While this step may seem simple, it is a necessary action to prevent Mr. Carroll from feeling that his complaints have been completely ignored and making him feel that he is an unimportant customer, as well as to prevent him from taking actions that can affect United Airlines as a whole prematurely (such as posting songs or complaints through the internet). In addition to the aforementioned mitigation steps for the issues with Mr. Carroll, as Regional Manager a meeting with other concerned divisions and supervisors must be called in to fully give the details that lead to the situation, to explain the repercussions that can happen and affect the impression and trust of important clients, stakeholders, and the public due to Mr. Carroll’s dissatisfaction and ignoring his complaints, and to create the terms of settlement that will be offered to Mr. Carroll such as creating a list of possible settlements and allowing him to choose only

Technology and Health care Essay Example for Free

Technology and Health care Essay Technology is â€Å"the boon and bane of medicine†. It has been a great blessing for health care system of the United States by providing new treatments and cured for the chronic illnesses, and sophisticated diagnostic procedures to reduce complication and incapacity. Ever since the postindustrial era, the development of new technology has continued to change many facets of health care delivery (Shi Singh, 2012). Telehealth is a type of technological evolution, which use telecommunication to promote health. In this paper, Application of telehealth technology in 1st home health care, Inc. located in Chicago, IL is discussed to show the impact of telehealth on the quality of care, quality of life, cost of care, and access. The social, ethical, and economic impact of telehealth on the 1st home health care, Inc. is also discussed. Increasing number of elderly patients and patients with chronic conditions have led to increase in health care institutions like home health care, to improve the standard of quality care and control the health care costs. 1st home health care, Inc. provide services including therapy services, skilled nursing, and personal care to elderly people who are homebound (1st Home Health Care, Inc.: Quality care provider, 2012). Home health care is a trend in health care delivery nowadays. More and more patients involve in the home health care trend, due to the remote monitoring and telemedicine, which allows patients to receive the care that they need in the comfort of their home. Majority of these patients are insured through the affordable care act (DeVore, 2014). Telehealth in 1st Home Health Care, Inc., Chicago, IL 60659 Telehealth is the major trend going on right now in health care services, and it is affecting health care delivery system in every level, public or private and small or big organizations. The main purpose of telehealth is promoting health by using the concept of telecommunication. Telehealth also incorporates the concept of telemedicine. There is a slight difference between both. Telemedicine is a distance medicine, in which  telecommunication is used to diagnose and treat the patient especially when the patient and provider are separated by distance (Shi Singh, 2012). Telehealth is a wide-ranging concept, which includes telemedicine as educational, administrative, and research use, and also in clinical application that involves caregivers, such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, etc. (Field and Grigsby, 2002). There are two sub-categories of telemedicine; synchronous telemedicine and asynchronous telemedicine. In synchronous telemedicine, it allows real-time telecommunication, such as video conferencing in between patient and provider. It allows health care providers to examine and interview the patients. In asynchronous telemedicine, it stores and forward technology that allows flexibility because the user can review the information later (Maheu, Whitten, Allen, 2001). For example; teleradiology (Transmission of radiological images), telepathology (Observation of tissue specimen via video microscopy), and telesurgery (using and controlling robots to perform surgery from a distance (Shi Singh, 2012). Innovative applications are under process in the telemonitoring patients receiving home health care. Vital signs can be monitored using video technology in a cost effective manner (Johnston, Weeler, Deuser, Sousa, 2000). The Veteran Health Administration has confirmed the importance of telehealth in mental health services and delivering psychotherapy for some of the psychiatric conditions (Gros, Aciemo, Ruggiero, Frueh, Grubaugh, Egede, 2010). In rural area, they face many challenges in order to get the quality health care in a cost-effective way. Some of the barriers play huge role in the ineffective health care services in rural areas, such as shortage of providers, long distances, isolation at social and physical level, etc., which can be overcome by using telehealth services (Shi Singh, 2012). Telehealth improves the quality of care at low costs by providing access to rural areas. World has changed to a very busy, technology dependent, and information gathering society. Everyone wants everything immediately. This instantaneous expectation is motivating the growing uses of telehealth technology in health care system. Telehealth have increased popularity over time and improve quality of care by f acilitating patients to take readings and measurements (vital sings) in the comfort of their own home, where they feel the most comfortable (Lee, Helal, Anton, Deugd, Smith, 2012; Williams Wilkins, 2011). Telehealth,  or the delivery of health-related services using telecommunications by a healthcare provider to patients that are some distance from the provider, is a cost-effective method that could provide health services in a home settings (Lee, Helal, Anton, Deugd, Smith, 2012; Blinkhorn, 2012). It keeps the comforts of home as the quality care is provided where the patient wants to stay. It is one on one care, in which the patients are provided with 100% attention and quality care. It is very much affordable as compared to other health care services’ cost. Patients are treated and getting cure at their house; in a very comfortable environment where they love spending time. This home environment helps them recover soon, and it is easy and fast for them to feel comfortable and independent. Telehealth reduces patient’s hospital visit or admission costs and ultimately save a large amount of health care costs. Telecommunications changes the delivery of health care by providing easier access between patients and doctors. The telehealth in home health care services not only provide the best quality care within a home environment, but also gives peace of mind to patient’s family in their busy lifestyle. Telehealth in home health care, not only gives more years to add in patient’s life, but it provides â€Å"Life to years† (Lee, Helal, Anton, Deugd, Smith, 2012). As the world evolves, there will be ways to put up with the world we live in. Everything seems to be transforming into technological communicating rather than in person or face-to-face communication. In short, telehealth has brought many positive changes in the health care delivery system in terms of quality of care, quality of life, health care costs, and access. Application of telehealth in 1st home health care, Inc. can improve the quality care, save hospitalization costs, better regulator of vital signs of patients, and it improves productivities of patients, health care providers, and health care costs (Blinkhorn, 2012). New technology like telehealth always raises social, ethical, and economical apprehensions. Health care budget with maintaining the standard of quality care is the main concern in the Unites States. From an economic point of view, telehealth technology requires human and nonhuman contribution for the production, operation, training, and management of health care services. Telehealth technology raise question like, is telehealth worth spending the amount it needs? Majority of the home health care receivers are covered  under Medicare and Medicaid program in the 1st Home Health Care, Inc. The concern is regarding putting pressure on government for the fund from such programs, after application of telehealth in 1st Home Health Care, Inc. (Shi Singh, 2012). From the socio-economic point of view, telehealth benefits patients, health care providers, and health care system. Telehealth in home health care benefits patients in terms of increased access to health care, better quality of care, better quality of life, and cost-effectiveness (Jennett, Affleck Hall, Hailey, Ohinmaa, Anderson, Thomas, Young, Lorenzetti, Scott, 2003). The social, ethical, and economic viewpoints of society affect the application of telehealth in home health care. Conclusion Patients with chronic diseases would rather be in their home than in hospitals and nursing homes, and this is true for especially elderly patients who want to be in their homes. Recent advances in information and communication technology have made telehealth in home health care both realistic and reasonable. Many factors affect the use of telehealth technology in health care system, such as; beliefs and values, financing, socio-economic views, etc. Telehealth technology provides quality of care to elderly patients and patients with chronic conditions, in their home settings in an affordable way. Telehealth has had an incredible impact on the health care delivery system. It has positively influenced the quality of care, improved the quality of life, and advance access in a cost-effective manner (Burgiss Dimmick, 2003). Application of telehealth in 1st Home Health Care, Inc. can be beneficial to the patients and providers. References 1st Home Health Care, Inc.: Quality care provider. (2012). Services. Retrieved from http://www.1sthomehealthcare.com/services Blinkhorn, T. M. (2012). Telehealth in nephrology health care: a review. Renal Society of Australasia Journal, 8(3), 132-139. Burgiss, S., Dimmick, S. L. (2003). Telehealth in home health care. Care Management Journals, 4(2), 110-116. DeVore, S. (2014). The changing health care world: Trend to watch in 2014. Retrieved from http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2014/02/10/the-changing-health-care-world-trends-to-watch-in-2014/ Field, M. J., Grigsby, J. (2002). Telemedicine and

Is It Advertisement Manipulation Media Essay

Is It Advertisement Manipulation Media Essay Advertising plays a crucial role in the world that we live in. Every day, the media expands and thousands of magazines, TV commercials, radio stations and newspapers are released. Advertisement is found in every single one of these Medias. It is important because it helps individuals know what products are popular on the marketplace. As a college student, I myself am very influenced by advertisement. I come across ads on the internet, on the radio, on television, and on magazines. But are these advertisements really helpful to the consumers or are we just being manipulated into buying a product? This question deserves to be examined because millions of people are being affected by advertisement each and every day. They might not even realize that advertisers use psychological techniques in order to persuade the consumer to buy their product, and eventually change their spending and living tendency. Before I could focus on the advertisers psychological techniques, I first needed to find out about the ethics of advertisement. I started my research by reading a news article, Precious Information or Vicious Manipulation, from Ezine Articles, to give me a simple understanding of it. Each different commerce has its own rules for the ethical requirements. There are, however, four marketing communication requirements that every industry has to follow which include legal, decent, honest and truthful (Yordanof). One of the interviewed individual quoted the most successful companies do not need ethics in their activities because they have built empires. He also stated, sooner or later whoever is not ethical will face the negative consequences. One of the most the most contentious matters in the marketing communications market is the quality of advertisements. Three area of interest in terms of ethical decision of advertisement have been distinguished as: individual autonomy, consumer sovereignty, and the nature of the product. The individual autonomy refers to the advertising to young children, consumer sovereignty refers the level of information and superiority of the indented consumer, and as for the nature of the product, well, it speaks for itself. Needing more in-depth information on how advertisement affects young children, I turned to The Washington Post newspaper and read a short article entitled Information or Manipulation. It is said that spending on advertising for children has increased five-fold in the last ten years and two thirds of commercials during child television programs are for food products (Bergadaa 2007). Young children represent 24 billion dollars worth in the marketplace (McNeal 2007). Research from the American Psychological Association show that children do not have the ability to understand whether a commercial is reliable or not, therefore they are truly impacted by them. They are not able to comprehend the true message behind an advertisement and therefore believe it is truthful, accurate and unbiased which can lead to unhealthy eating habits as evidenced by todays youth obesity epidemic (Mayer 2004). Advertisers spend over 12 billion dollar a year on commercials intended for children. Research shows that a child watches about forty thousand television commercials a year. Roberts and Pettigrew exposed that 28.5 hours of childrens television programming sampled contained 950 advertisements (sec.12). Advertising industry officials believe that parents should be able to explain the advertisements truthfulness to their kids because most of the ads are on junk food, sodas, and candies. Advertisers rely on the parents to be cautious and say no to their young children. They do not see the psychological difficulties parents face to constantly be responding negatively to their childs requests, said Dale L. Kunkel. However, some countries have more harsh rules against children advertisement which I quote from this report: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sweden and Norway do not permit any television advertising to be directed towards children under 12 and no adverts at all are allowed during childrens programmes. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Australia does not allow advertisements during programmes for pre-school children. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Austria does not permit advertising during childrens programmes, and in the Flemish region of Belgium no advertising is permitted 5 minutes before or after programmes for children. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sponsorship of childrens programmes is not permitted in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden while in Germany and the Netherlands, although it is allowed, it is not used in practice. (McSpotlight). In Daniele Pradas article Advertising: Manipulation or Information, advertisement is considered information. Some commercials actually provide you with scientific facts and much more. Have you ever seen the commercial about smoking? Our society is trying to enlighten everyone about the effects smoking will have on you because we know it is a bad tendency that can cause cancer and eventually lead to death. In that case, advertisement is used in order to convince people to stop smoking before it is too late. The advertisers usually present the facts, and throw in a quote that will make the consumer ponder. One very famous reflective phrase is, Children of parents who smoke, get to heaven earlier (Anti-smoking). We all have seen above the influence commercials which usually target adolescent and young adults. This advertising campaign conducted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy provides commercial in order to prevent the use of drugs and to encourage parents to discuss it with their children. Each of these commercial shows what it means to be above the influence in its own unique way. The Above the Influence campaign appears to be successful because it taps into the desire by teenagers to be independent and self-sufficient, Slater said. A recent study done by the Ohio State University, shows that Above the Influence campaign seems to have successfully reduced the use of marijuana by adolescents. On the other hand, some people feel that advertisement is pure manipulation and that it plays with our feelings. To captivate our attention advertisers use famous artists, sports, music and fancy images. They use crucial values to influence people of purchasing something or doing something. In his article, Alan Harris believes that this manipulation is viewed as a type of foregrounding. His definition of foregrounding was a linguistic process in which some elements, such as words, phrases, sentences, stressings, intonations, or the like are given prominence or made more meaningfully significant by the communicator/language-user, in this case the creator(s) of a print advertisement. In other words, a lot of elements are used in order to convince the consumer to buy a product or service. Millions of people are being manipulated each day Most of the beautiful aspects promised in ads are most of the time not true. For example, can buying a specific type of detergent really make the clothes brand new? I think not! But advertisers would do everything in their power to convince you that their detergent is the best and would restore your clothes to brand new. The advertisers around the world are able change the way people live and change their spending tendency. This is the main reason why advertisers spend an incredible amount of money on advertisements. According to the General information article, it is estimated that the price of a product may go up for up to 40% due to advertisement costs. Advertisement encourages the individual to be one step ahead of everybody else that is why they will tell you that their products is better than the others. Another way to captures the consumers attention is sexual arousal because they know that sexual need is one of the most powerful desire in a human. In her article, Mwende says, Government should establish institutions that will scrutinize and ensure that the commercials and advertisements do not merely cheat people callously. It should make sure that people are not manipulated, cheated, lied to or exploited by unscrupulous traders. As I wrap up my research, I notice that advertisement can be both positive and negative. I now understand how it can both be viewed as information or manipulation to certain people. However, my question still cannot be answered because I believe that I would have to do more research on the psychological part and how advertisement affects the mind. I want to know how an advertisement is processed through a ones brain. In order to be able to answer my question, I want to explore this issue further.

Comparing the Minority Experience in Baby of the Family, and House on M

Women Minority Experience in Baby of the Family, and House on Mango Street  Ã‚      The two novels Baby of the Family, and House on Mango Street expose the minority experience through the perspective of a child, struggling to find an identity in their own unique views of the cultures they are growing up in. The life of Lena's family, one of an upper class African American family in the southern part of the United States, appeals to the ideal of the New American as her family blends the dominant culture with their minority background in their everyday life experiences. Esperanza is a Hispanic youth, growing up in a barrio, where there is not much to offer the Hispanic locals. She ultimately feels the profile the of the New American in her view of attaining a better life, and escaping the suffocating prescence of the barrio, while still remembering her ethnic roots. Both these characters apply to the classification of the Double Minority in the obvious aspect of being females, and of course their relationship of being in a minority culture. In Baby of the Family, author Tina Ansa exposes the reader to the perspective of a child living in a dominant culture oriented household, that is trying to latch on to some very important traditional aspects of their minority background. Esperanza in House on Mango Street struggles to find her identity in a society discriminating against her not only as a minority, but her genders hinders her advancement also. The authors of these two minority novels corelate these ideals and explore the hardships these two character face as struggling to become the New American while being classified ultimately as Double Minorities. A few of the common apects shared by the two novels include the common... ...alls these children experience. These two children take the ideal of the "New American" and expose it as they find ways to live in a world in which they walk a fine line between the two clashing cultures. The "Double Minority" role plays an important and attempt to overcome the barriers in their own cultures. The cultures ultimately take on a new definition as time progresses, because there is truly not a definite distinction anymore. Works Cited Ansa, Tina McElroy. Baby of the Family. Harcourt Press; San Diego, 1989. Blicksilver, Edith. The Ethnic American Woman. Kenall/Hunt Publishing; Iowa, 1978. Cecil, Andrew R. The Meaning of the Family in Society. University of Texas; Dallas, 1991. Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. Vintage Contemporaries; New York, 1991. Murray, Alma. Black Perspectives. Scholastic Books; New York, 1971.   

Consequences Of Oil Spill Disasters Environmental Sciences Essay

On March 24, 1984 the oil oiler Exxon Valdez entered Prince William Sound which is on the manner towards California. Due to the conditions and unnatural sea conditions, the ship ran aground and began sloping oil. Within a fraction of second an environmental incubus began that changed non merely the Prince William Sound but the universe. Within a short period of clip a sum of 11,000,000 gallons of Alaska North Scope petroleum oil leaked into environment from the ruptured hull of the ship. Within a month the petroleum oil had been driven along a way stretching about 750km to the sou'-west. The killing procedure took 3 old ages and the cost was over 2.1billion ( usd ) . The decease toll in footings of wildlife in the sea was reeling and the full impact may ne'er be known. The Exxon Mobil Corporation or Exxon Mobil, is an American transnational oil and gas corporation. Exxon Mobil is one of the largest publically traded companies in the worldhaving been high ranked. Over the last 125 old ages Exxon mobil has evolved from a regional seller of kerosine in the United States to the largest publically traded crude oil and petrochemical endeavor in the universe. Today Exxon Mobil is best known by their familiar trade names and names such as Exxon, Esso and Mobil. They are doing merchandise that drive modern transit, power metropoliss, lubricate industry and provides petrochemical edifice blocks that lead to thousand of consumer goods. Vision – Progress in energy efficiency across planetary refinement and chemical operations by 10 % between the twelvemonth 2002 and 2012. The refinement and chemical concerns are in charge for make their vision to come alive. Under the counsel of the presidents of refinement and chemical, site operations direction implements facility-level energy strength betterments. Exxon mobil ‘s Corporate safety, security, wellness, and environment Department collects informations sing the advancement from the concern and make presentation one-year footing to the Management Committee and the Public Issues and Contributions Committee of the board reappraisal and treatments. As one of the universe ‘s largest publically traded integrated energy company, Exxon Mobil ‘s premier duty is to place, develop, and safely present dependable supplies which in energy signifier to people around the universe while supplying a return for their stockholders. To accomplish their purposes and vision, Exxon has its ain aims. Economic development Exxon looks frontward to make a long term economic and societal benefits from their undertaking and presence. To keep smooth gross flows Exxon Mobil employ a assortment of incentive plans and economic support which aid cut down barriers for development. This besides guarantee to better local substructure, create occupations, enhance instruction and drive economic activity faster. Safety, wellness and the workplace Exxon mobil give more precedence to protects the safety of their employees, contractors, clients and the populace. They ever try to keep their nucleus value which is safety, security and wellness. They besides encourage employee development and a positive ambiance. Environmental public presentation While stressing safety, wellness and workplace, Exxon mobil besides conveying along their concern in mode protects the environment. They integrate ecological considerations during the development of a undertaking.Oil refinery industrial procedure and operationCrude oil is the get downing point of doing crude oil fuels, lubricators, medical equipment, electronics and so many things. These rough oil is taken from under the land or deep ocean. The rough oil comes from deep resistance where the remains of the workss and animate beings from 1000000s of old ages ago have been heated and pressured over clip. By and large the petroleum oil is blackish in coloring material. There are many types of petroleum oil.The refinement procedureOnce the petroleum oil has been discovered, it drilled and brought to the Earth ‘s surface. Than it transported to a refinery by grapevine or ship. At the refinery, it is converted into consumer and industrial merchandises. There are 3 major refinery proce dure behavior by Exxon mobil to alter rough oil into finished merchandises.SeparationIs the first measure to divide the petroleum oil into its of course happening constituents. The procedure call distillment where using heat is carried out to carry through the separation procedure. Separation performed in a series of distillment towers, with the bottom merchandise from each tower feeding the following. The hottest point of the distillment tower can make every bit much as 400 degree Celsius. Merchandises from the distillment tower scope from gases at the top to really heavy, syrupy liquids at the underside. In all instances, these merchandise watercourses are still considered unfinished and necessitate farther processing to go utile merchandises.DISTILLATION PROCESSConversionDistillation seperates the petroleum oil into unfinished merchandises. However the merchandises non of course exist in petroleum. In this phase, there is excessively small gasoline and excessively much of heavy oil left. So the transition procedure carried out to change over low valued heavy oil into high value gasoline. The transition procedure is so much of import in the oil refinery procedure. All merchandise in the refinery procedure stands in same edifice blocks which is C and hydrocarbon ironss. The longer the concatenation the heavier the merchandise will be. The procedure of change overing the heavier hydrocarbons into lighter hydrocarbons is the nucleus intent of the transition procedure.PurificationOnce the petroleum oil has through the procedure separation and transition, the resulting merchandises is ready for purification procedure. This procedure is fundamentally sulphur remotion procedure. This procedure is done by hy drotreating procedure, where convert heavy molecules into lighter 1s. Finally the modern refinery and petrochemical engineering can transform the petroleum oil into literally 1000s of usage full merchandises.Hazard that lead to oil spill catastrophe and pollutionThe tragic accident which happened in Alaska ‘s Prince William Sound is profoundly regretted by the company. The major hazard encountered by Exxon Valdez was go throughing through icebergs. The captain has ordered his 3rd mate to turn around the iceberg and handed him the wheels. He than replaced by another adult male. So the message was non sent to him. Miscommunication seems to play a major portion for this oil spill. The captain failed to supply a proper direction and orders to his 3rd mate due to damage of intoxicant. The direction besides plays a portion in making hazard which lead to the catastrophe. They failed to supply plenty work force for the captain. The U.S seashore guard besides failed to supply sufficien t information on vas traffic system. There besides much hazard may do oil spill but non the Valdez spill. Natural ooze besides can do oil spill. When the tectonic home bases shift place there are some oil escape from the militias trapped deep under the ocean. Natural ooze is besides addition due to human activity such as boring. The method choose to make full the well besides one of the hazard which lead to the spill. For illustration BP besides chose to lade the well with saltwater, instead than weighty boring clay. This procedure than go forthing the well vulnerable to an rush of oil and gas. A status that is non allowed for exploratory Wellss drilled in other topographic points, experts said. The company besides chose non to utilize automatic stoppers, devices put inside the pipe that besides can blockade oil and gas which lead to detonation. Oil remains a preferable energy beginning and increasing demand for this resource translates to an increasing demand to transport them where they are needed safely, quickly and at the cheapest cost. In this respect, grapevines remain a cost-efficient pick particularly for transporting at long distances on land. Consequently, building of these mega grapevine substructure undertakings will hold immediate important impacts on the environment in the event of a big release of hydrocarbons. It is necessary so that these undertakings be carefully assessed and managed to extenuate the inauspicious impacts of an oil spill incident. The companies involved in oil derive each have their ain informations. They are besides each responsible for operations. If informations non shared consequently, there will be opportunities of accident which may subsequently do oil spill. They should portion the informations otherwise and carried out the operation otherwise. Another the most common hazard that lead to oil spill is runoff from the land. Many land-based engines are running by crude oil fuel or crude oil based lubricators. All these substances are easy released, where roll uping on roads and in the land where eventually stop up in ocean. This happens due to miss of consciousness among us. These issues may do a serious pollution issue.Consequences of all the jeopardies of the spill catastropheThe 1989 Valdez incident was one of the lowest points in Exxon Mobil ‘s 125 twelvemonth history. The incident made Exxon Mobile took duty over the oil spill. As portion of the condemnable supplication understanding, the tribunal fined Exxon $ 150 million. They spent over $ 4.3 billion. The killing procedure required about 10,000 plus workers, 1,000 over boats and approximately 100 over aeroplanes and choppers. The all right which Exxon Mobile paid was the largest all right of all time for the environmental offense. This was the direct impact from the catastrophe. The spill had caused over $ 300 million injury particularly to economic wise more than 32 1000 people whose supports depended on commercial fishing. Oil spill hold a serious consequence on marine life every bit good. Oil spill cause dislocation of gas exchange. This ulterior lead to decease of plankton and fish. The petroleum oil besides poisoning animate beings. Marine life dies due to this grounds. Besides marine life birds besides affected by oil spill. Birds which have direct contact with oil affects its protective outer coat. It breaks down the insulating capacity of plumes and pelt and motion. Spending which allocated for touristry decreased by eight per centum in south cardinal Alaska and by 30 five per centum in south west Alaska in the twelvemonth after the spill. Deceased fishes and birds all get washed up on the shoreline and the oil slipperiness interferes in actions such as seafaring, swimming, fishing and touristry. The local touristry industry suffers the much because tourers are non acute in coming to a coastal country where they can non make the activities which listed above. There was a loss of around 9,000 visitants and $ 5.5 million in province disbursement. Industries that depend on clean saltwater for regular operations can besides impact because operations have to be stopped while the procedure of cleaning the H2O. Oil spill besides straight affects the economic system. Recreational athletics fishing had direct impact from Exxon Valdez oil spill. This loss was estimated based on the impacts of the oil spill.for the twelvemonth 1989, the doomed was estimated around $ 580million. The oil spill catastrophe is non a job which can be cleaned instantly. It leaves a long term effects to the environment. After 12 old ages from the spill, a study showed oil could still be found on half of the 91 indiscriminately selected beaches. For illustration, serious exposures for old ages after the spill to oil persisting in sedimentary safeties were proves from biomarkers in fish, sea otters, and sea ducks confidentially connected with deposits for egg laying or forage. These continual exposures improved mortality for old ages.Improvements and alterations in the directionAfter the awful incident, Exxon Mobil had doubled its long-time committedness to safeguard the environment, employees and runing communities over the worldwide. To forestall another catastrophe Exxon Mobil had modified its oiler paths. They planned consequently the paths. They even instituted drug and intoxicant testing plans for safety and sensitive issue. They had learned a lesson from the old catastrophe. Implementing more extended periodic appraisal of Exxon Mobil vass and installations seems another measure to forestall oil spill. They even applied new engineering to better vas pilotage and guarantee the unity of oil containment systems. Not merely Exxon Mobil but each and every direction involved in this field should fix some betterment to forestall oil spill. There are ; – Hazard appraisal – through a comprehensive hazard appraisal, can organize a solid scientific foundation for all their response programs. . It gives an indicant on where you can place your intercession steps and what equipment needs to be at that place to efficaciously pull off a spill incident. Environmental sensitivenesss – see the sensitivenesss in the country which may be potentially impacted in an oil spill. Pipeline response scheme – the grapevines are normally really long and it is non possible to mensurate spill sensor every kilometres. So should pattern sitting of response bases to react in an efficient and timely mode. Equipment types and measure – the quality of the equipment is really of import. Management should verify whether the equipment following the ISO criterion. Stakeholder direction – this is an unmarked critical component. A stakeholder is anyone who has an involvement in the undertaking and can act upon or impact the success of a undertaking. Management should see and understand their motivations and place

Play Activity Assignment Essay

This assignment is called Play activity. It is worth 30% of the overall grade of the module Early Childhood Education. As part of the assessment criteria of this assignment I must complete a play activity to a group o children aged between 0-6 years. WORK PLACE I have been starting to work in Creche X in Donnybrook area since two weeks ago (as a full time). I have been in a free trial, then part time till they decided I can start full time. I work in Baby room. There are five children at the moment. I love children and I like being around them. I haven’t worked before with babies, so it was a challenge and a big responsibility for me and I was very happy for the chance given to me. Despite the fact I had no experience to work with babies, I learnt lots of things in a short period of time and I can say I still have to learn few more. It is a small but spacious, but friendly and brightly creche. It is a full day care service from 7:30 till 6:00. They have a Baby room, Wobblers room, Toddler room and Montessori room. The Baby room has also a cot room with 4 beds. It is a lovely room plenty of toys and books (for babies). The creche has also a changing room, an office, a kitchen and a large outdoor garden. They provide breakfast and hot nutritious meals. All of their staff (six persons) are full trained and experienced. They are Garda vetted and First aid trained. They use the Montessori and Highscope methods of play and education. They have a secure access, outdoor safety surface, wheel chair accessible, daily log kept for parents. When parents come to pick up their children they must say a password or if they send somebody else to pick up their child, they must call before and then to say a password as well. DUTIES * Sign the children in and out * Keep daily record of each child (record book) * Parents sign in and out * Changing nappies * Feeding children * Playing with them ( sponge painting, hand print, activity gym, ball play, pulling objects, mirror play, face expression, different kind of music, messy play, etc) * Bring them to sleep area * Verify then from tem to ten minutes * Write every day on a Care of Sheet the quantity and the hours they had their bottles of milk, solids, how many time nappies were changed, * Write down on the Cot Sheet that you verified the children and they were safe at that moment * Answer the phone. * Hovering and mop every day the room * Fill out an accident report * Chat with parents about day’s activity * Medical consent and administration form for medicines given to children must be completed by the manager, parent, staff and witness. * Take the temperature of children that seem to be sick checking from 15 to 15 minutes and right down on the medicine book; if the temperature is high we call the parents * Verify every morning and afternoon the temperature from refrigerator * Hover and mop all the creche one day a week (when my turn comes) PERSONAL PROFILE My name is Mihaela Serea. I’m from Romania and I came in Ireland in 2008. I have been starting to work as a child minder for two families. I took care of a child of four years old and one of three years old. The second family just moved in UK two months ago, so I decided to start Fetac Level 5 in Childcare. In Romania I went to College for a period of 4 years Faculty of Letters, profile Romanian-English. During the college I completed the courses for the Department of Teaching in primary/secondary school. After the college I have done a master degree in Business Management for one year and half. During my Master degree I had the opportunity to work in a kindergarten. I was afraid of taking care of small children, but it was a really pleasant experience and I enjoyed it a lot. Some other courses completed: when I was in secondary school, I decided to do some courses within the area of computers. What I want to achieve from this module Early Childhood Education? It is a crucial period of children at this age, so I want to explore all the aspects of a child development, from safety and psychology to physical, cognitive and emotional development. I want to help children to gain confidence in everyday tasks, to ensure that the play is conforming to official health and safety standards. It is a period when walking, talking, vision of the world and moral foundations are established. The early years of life are critical to the development of intelligence, personality and social behavior. I would like to learn about children needs and interests. My unique selling points I enjoy teaching, but in Romanian language because it will be easy to express myself. In English I loose myself, I forget the words, I don t know anymore what I want to say, it s difficult, because in school we don’t communicate enough, we just learn to read, to write, grammar, exercises. When I was a child I dreamed to be a teacher. All my story books have marks on. I like painting, singing, computers, I like to be informed. One day I believe I will have my own business a creche. But first of all I need to work in a creche for more years to get more experience and to find out everything I need to know about. I like children very much, I will be a good manager and I think it will be good money as well, if I provide a good service. Title of play activity: Autumn leaves Aim Autumn is a great time to teach children about leaves. I want to learn them through play and exploration of the nature and to get involved with it. Collecting different leaves they learn different colors, shapes and structures. Another aim is to develop children’s creativity by mixing colors, working in groups. Consultation with my supervisor When I take a group of children out I have to be aware of their safety: planning, permission, supervision, transport. In my case, I go into a park just near by our location with a group of pre school children. I spoke with my supervisor to give permission and a letter should be sent to all the parents/guardians of the children. Co-operation with families is essential to ensure the welfare of the children. The supervisor told me it s not necessary a transport, because it is just two minutes away. We do not need packed meals, only some bottles of water, tissues, spare clothing, small first aid kit, a charged mobile phone and emergency contact numbers, ensuring that the service’s insurance policy includes adequate cover for outings. I have to take care of health, safety and hygiene of children maintaining a high standard of care which promotes the development of the children. Children should be suitably dressed for the outing in cloths which protect against the weather. Children should not wear their best cloths. Children’s clothing needs to allow them freedom of movement so that they can take full advantage of all the opportunities offered on the outing. I remembered to children about road safety. Always we cross the road at safe points such as traffic lights. I checked the place in advance to be sure of the facilities that are available and the area that may be a danger to children. Benefits of my chosen theme: A study of leaves/ autumn opens up possibilities for learning in many content areas. Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Art all contribute to a unit on leaves. If there is access to a park or playground, the children can go on a leaf gathering walk. When this isn’t possible, children can be encouraged to gather leaves at home with their families and bring them in to the classroom, or teachers can provide the leaves. Leaves change colors, usually from green to red, orange, yellow and brown. Leaves can be found on trees, fall to the ground and we rake them. Children sort the leaves they collected by color, size or type of leaf. Fall is a beautiful time of year, when the leaves change color and fall from the trees. Besides sweeping them up and bagging them, consider putting the fallen leaves to good use. Children collect and turn them into leaf art. The multi-colored leaves make beautiful craft projects, and the best part is that they’re free. There are several types of crafts you can do from leaves. The only limit is your imagination. Going out in the park they learn different types of animals. Also children learn about the season ‘’autumn’’: season of the year between summer and winter, lasting from the autumnal equinox to the winter solstice and from September to December; period of maturity verging on decline. Five related themes: 1. Leaf print 2. Hedge hogs 3. Colors 4. Collecting leaves 5. Autumn leaves Chosen activity: I have chosen an art activity to be completed with a group of 5 children within a pre-school setting. Preparation: * I will talk with my supervisor in order to inform her about the background of the play activity assignment * I will bring a photocopy of my plan about this play activity * During the meeting I ask her about some suggestions related to the play activity and its educational content * I ask my supervisor if parents will give the permission to take the children in the park * I will ask my supervisor about a suitable time and location to complete the play activity and what I may need to get. * I wil try to figure out how long it may take to complete this activity * I will create a checklist in order to ensure that all essential supplies are present during the play * Equipment needed to complete the skills demonstration will be: baskets to collect the leaves, glue, white papers, small and big paintbrushes, water based paints, paper plates, paper tissues, wet wipes, and aprons. The paint used will be non toxic. Implementation: First of all the activity will be safe for the children to undertake. The park was at 5 minutes walking away from our location and it was a safe area. I gave them baskets to collect the leaves from the park We spent 2 hours in the nature Wash hands Gather materials using the checklist as a guide Set out an area permitted by the supervisor Put on the aprons on each child I give to each child a paint brushes and paper plates I showed them how to make the operation They cleaned up the mess Evaluation: As part of my assessment for the FETAC module: Early Childhood Education, I must complete one play activity within a work place setting. I tried to follow step by step the plan in order to complete the Play Activity ‘’Autumn leaves’’. I spent almost two hours in the park with children, and then we came back. 1. How the skills demonstration went from my personal viewpoint 1. In my opinion everything went very well and I was really happy that I succeeded to complete it. The children helped me a lot because they followed my verbal instructions. Before we have gone to the park, I gave them wood baskets to collect the leaves. I provided all the materials they needed to deal with for printing leaves on the papers. First of all I showed them how to do it. I took one of my own leaves, I painted it and I put the painted side on the sheet of paper and gently press it with my hands. After few seconds, I lifted the leaf. They could choose small/big paint brushes and colors to use. I could see they tried to make the operation very well exactly as I showed it to them. TC1 and TC3 showed a big concentration. Despite of the fact that CT2 wanted to work on his own, he mixed the colors very nice. 2. How the skills went demonstration went from the child’s viewpoint The Play Activity ended very well, all children have been happy about their creations. I put on their creations their names and I hanged them on a wire. They applauded/clapped their hands and had big smiles on their faces. They showed a lot of concentration when they started to paint. 3. The last part of the evaluation is actually the development of children through this play activity as following: P. I. L. E. S Physical Development: This was developed when all the children collected leaves from the ground and when they printed the leaves on the papers. In the park they collected leaves using their fingers (fine motor skills). They moved from a place to another, jumping and running around developing their gross motor skills. (Large muscles: legs, body movements). They held the paintbrushes (fine motor skills) to print the leaves. Intellectual: They counted how many leaves they had at the end and they sorted the leaves based on colors and sizes (Logical/math). They compared their leaves to see who has the largest one (Concentration). Through art they developed their creativity and expression of their art when they put different colors of leaves on papers. Children love to find interesting shaped leaves. T. C 4 remembered some names of the trees they learned in the classroom (memory). T. C 1 pretended he is the child of the jungle, Mowgly (imagination). T. C3 stick two papers side by side to make a bigger collage of leaves printed and T. C4 mixed the colors of the leaves on the paper. (creativity). TC4 pretended he is a rabbit in the forest, so he started to jump like a rabbit. (imagination). Language: This was developed when children understood my verbal instructions related to leaves (collecting them, counting them, make comparisons, painting the leaves then stick them for few seconds on the papers, etc). They learned new words related to and animals trees like maple, oak, squirrels, etc Emotional: This was developed when T. C1 expressed his happiness about discovering he found the largest leaf. T. C2 started to sing a song we have learned in the class. T. C4 started to cry because he falls down on the ground. TC3 was angry because TC1 pushed him on a side just to take his leaf he found on the ground. They developed feelings associated with winning and losing. Social: This was developed when I brought them together in the park, in the nature. T. C1 was playing with the others. T. C3 collected leaves with T. C4. (team work, the ability to work in groups, interaction with the others). When we were in the classroom I put them to work in pairs of two. (they learnt to share the equipment, be patient, clean up the mess). Howard Gardner Kinesthetic: CT4 jumping like a rabbit, so he developed his gross muscles (legs). They played together, running. CT3 is very good at craft, he was doing a great job sticking two papers side by side, and making a bigger collage of different colors, shapes of leafs printed. Naturalist: CT2 was excellent at recognizing the squirrels. They enjoyed being in nature, exploring the nature, collecting leaves. CT1 recognized some flowers. Interpersonal: CT3 seem to be a a natural leader enjoy teaching the others how to paint the leaf and then to stick them on the paper. I noticed CT3 is a closed friend to CT4. Intrapersonal: When I put them to work in groups of two, CT2 replied to me that he prefers working alone. He showed a strong sense of independence in the park as well collecting the leaves on his own. (He does a great job on his own). Recommendations for change: I propose for the next time when we go into a trip, we should choose a larger place with more attractive/educational spots for children to see and we should take more children and more staff. It will be more fun. Impact on children: Children enjoyed going out exploring the natures, collecting the leaves. They deal with shapes, colors, how they look combined. They loved to use different colors to paint the leaves and they seemed very enthusiasts about their work. At the end at the project they were proud of their work. They learned to work in groups. Painting gives them the ability to share their equipment, to clean up their mess. They learned to be patient, they learned new words. Personal learning: * I learned to complete a play activity in a pre-school setting * I learnt to apply theory to practice * I improved to communicate with my supervisor and ask for advice regarding my plan activity.

Abe Lincoln essays

Abe Lincoln essays The book is Abraham Lincoln by Russell Freedman. It was published in in 1987 in Chicago. The author of the book wants you to realize how good of a person president Lincoln was. He says "Lincoln was a mysterious man, but is a great American folk hero." "Abraham Lincolm stood out in a crowd as much for his wit and rollicking humor as for his height." Lincoln was admired by many people and they loved his way of acting towards the common people. He was loved by everyone. Anyone who admired Abraham Lincoln or was wanting to learn more about him would want to read this book. People of all ages could read it and they would get a lot out of it. Not only do you read about Abraham Lincoln but about our country's history and what he did for it. This book covered many aspects of Lincoln's life. He showed pictures of him as a president and showed maps of where he lived and during the war what things he did for certain parts of the country. This book was very easy to read because it went in the same order as his life. From a small boy to a grown man and then finally it talked about his death. It covered everything he did both good and bad, from boy to grown man. I learned many new things about Lincoln and what he did. I always thought of him as a grumpy old man. The only reason he looked so sad and gloomy was becasue of the way he looked. He knew that he wasn't a very good looking person, but he covered that up with his charm and humor. I also learned that Lincoln spent a lot of time studying while he was growing up. One reason he knew how to handle things and deal with people is because of the way he had learned to talk to them. In this book there is an index. Is is very useful if you are wanting to look up a certain event that Lincoln was involved in or anything he did during this time period. It ...

Common Classroom Etiquette and Rules for Students

Common Classroom Etiquette and Rules for Students There are a few standard rules that every student should observe at all times when it comes to behavior in the classroom. Respect Others You are sharing your classroom with several other people who are just as important as you. Dont try to make others feel embarrassed. Dont make fun of others, or roll your eyes, or make faces when they are speaking. Be Polite If you must sneeze or cough, dont do it on another student. Turn away and use a tissue. Say excuse me. If someone is brave enough to ask a question, dont laugh or make fun of them. Say thank you when someone else does something nice. Use appropriate language. Keep Supplies Stocked Keep tissues and other supplies in your desk so youll have one when you need it! Dont become a constant borrower. When you see your eraser or your pencil supply shrinking, ask your parents to restock. Be Organized Messy workspaces can become distractions. Try to clean your own space often, so your clutter doesnt interfere with the classroom workflow. Make sure you have a space for storing supplies that must be replenished. This way, you will know when your supplies are running low, and you wont have to borrow. Be Prepared Maintain a homework checklist and bring your finished homework and projects to class with you on the due date. Be on Time Arriving late to class is bad for you and it is bad for other students. When you walk in late, you interrupt the work that has begun. Learn to be punctual. You also risk the possibility of getting on the teachers nerves. This is never good. While the Teacher is Talking Look at the teacher to make eye contact, unless youre writing notes.Dont whisper.Dont pass notes.Dont throw things.Dont laugh.Dont make funny faces to make other people laugh. When You Have a Question Wait for your turn to ask a question. If someone else is speaking, simply wait with your hand raised (or whatever process your teacher requires).Dont say me, next or oh when youre waiting with your hand raised. You will be noticed. When Working Quietly in Class Dont hum or fidget to distract other students.Keep your hands and feet to yourself.Dont brag if you finish first.Dont make rude comments about another students work or habits. When Working in Small Groups Respect the work and the words of your group members. If you dont like an idea, be polite. Never say thats dumb, or anything that would embarrass a classmate. If you really dont like an idea, you can explain why without being rude. Speak to fellow group members in a low voice. Dont speak loud enough for other groups to hear. During Student Presentations Dont try to distract the speaker.Keep your eyes on the speaker.Dont make rude comments.Try to think of a question if the speaker invites the class to ask. During Tests Remain quiet until everyone is finished.Dont get up and walk around unless its absolutely necessary. Everybody likes to have fun, but there is a time and a place for fun. Dont try to have fun at the expense of others, and dont try to have fun at inappropriate times. The classroom can be fun, but not if your fun involves rudeness.

Report on case study 1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Report on 1 - Case Study Example Rio Tinto, a Japanese company was jolted by an earthquake; that’s the cause of the issues that are being faced by the employees like Dermont. So now the question is how well the organization will be able to deal with an almost unprecedented situation? The problem is that people are puzzled as of this moment, they are not sure of how to tackle this situation as most of them are trapped. They faced some options while making a decision on which route to take. The first risk is that people might get hurt from falling nonstructural objects1. As the transcription describes that during the earthquake the people went under the desk to keep themselves safe from falling objects; the response of a building to an earthquake is determined by its design response spectrum2. Was there an appropriate design response spectrum at Rio Tinto? We can guess that yes, as the building survived. The situation described is like this, they are at the office and according to a clip they saw on TV, a gas terminus going up on flames. And the power stations of Tokyo were massively suffered as well as the fuel lines. So they had a choice, either to somehow make it to their homes or stay exactly where everyone was till the coast was clear and help/guidance was provided from authority. Direct losses were unable to estimate at that point in time; indirect losses calculated afterwards – they usually persist throughout recovery efforts3. According to the transcript, they chose the second option, and spent a night at the office. As for the traffic, it was operating only 10%-20% of its usual volume. Fuel stations were not functioning and gas was also disrupted by the jolts. Social and ethical issues that arose were to do with the emergency situations; for instance how will people help each other in such a calamity? The ethical issues faced here were to do with reopening the offices on Monday. Customers could possibly expect them on that, but there was a huge uncertainty; should the company be

The audit of not-for-profit organization-AuditingAssigment Essay

The audit of not-for-profit organization-AuditingAssigment - Essay Example 62). It involves high level of testing and application of audit procedures which results in high level of assurance, providing reasonable assurance on financial statements that financial statements are true and fair in all material aspects. However Assurance Engagement is expensive, so companies which are exempt from statuary audit may go for a Review Engagement. â€Å"The objective of a review engagement is to enable an auditor to state whether, on the basis of procedures which do not provide all the evidence that would required in an Assurance Engagement, anything has come to the auditor’s attention that causes the auditor to believe that the financial statements are not prepared, in all material respect, in accordance with an identified financial reporting framework† (Puttick, Van Esch, & Kana 2007 p. 73). As it is less expensive so it involves application of less detailed audit procedures than an Audit and provides moderate level of assurance which is expressed in t he form of negative assurance. The review engagement is hence, suitable for small NFPs to ensure the donators and volunteers of their fairness of operations and activities to achieve the goals of the organization. Non-Profit Organizations There are many forms of business organizations and non-profit organizations are one of the sorts which are increasingly gaining attention by authorities. Non-profit organizations include charities, local government bodies like councils and other government funded bodies like housing associations. Broadly speaking, NFP’s include bodies whose aim is to provide some educational, health or other social service with an intention to aid the society rather than generating wealth or profits of the organization (Wood & Powell, 1989). Charity is of the most common forms in not for profit organizations. The major differences between a company and a charity when it comes to auditing involve the presentation criterion which differs for both. Charities ar e normally tax exempt hence auditing changes for the charities. Auditing scope and method changes greatly as charities rely on cash donations and grants for the regular operations of the organization (Becker & Terrano 2007, pp. 1-5). However, larger NFPs and charities must have good internal control system to prove the controls reliable for the audit purposes reducing the overall work requirements for the audit engagement. Objectives of Non-profit Organizations Non profit organizations are either public sector organizations or other organizations whose primary purpose is to benefit the public rather than generating profits, which differentiate them to profit organizations whose main objective, is to maximize share holders’ wealth. Not just they differ from commercial organization; non-profit organizations differ from other non-profit organization for example: Local councils and public services organizations’ objective is to provide local services to a budget based on p ublic money which is likely to be based on value for money. While clubs, associations and unions’ objective would be of furtherance of the aims of club and to provide services to members which may include managing subscriptions paid and

Appraise Project Management Process Groups Essay

Appraise Project Management Process Groups - Essay Example The executing group enhances timely dissemination of information to the stakeholders, for quick decision making and timely end of the project (Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin, 2011). In fact, the executing process group implements the cost management policies, integration management policies, procurement management policies and other policies made in the planning process. Consequently, human resource management is well taken care of in then executing the group of project management process. Controlling activities aim at monitoring the execution of the project. Controlling process group monitors the project performance. Controlling activities can be applied in monitoring the cost management, procurement management, the human resource management and other types of management in a project. In case of any deviation from the main objective, adjustments are made to fix the problem. Controlling process aids in the timely application of risk management strategies to cover future uncertainties. The controlling group coordinates the alterations that may arise in course of the project. Additionally, the controlling process group keeps a close check on the performance of all the stakeholders to determine whether they work in conformity to the project’s objective. Closure of the project process is the last group. This project management process involves the termination of all activities. The process validates the completion of the project. The elements of this group are management and project closeout procedure.

Leadership & Change Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Leadership & Change - Coursework Example Despite such, the effectiveness of a change process relies on the management techniques employed in an organization with the leadership skills of the managers remaining integral in the process as the discussion below shows. Transformational model of leadership and theory of change mandates the managers with overseeing the change process thus with the responsibility of ensuring the success of the change process (Mullins, 2010: 451). The theory requires managers to boost the morale of the employees thereby introducing the changes systematically in a manner that the employees embrace them. Employee motivation is a basic mandate of human resource management. It influences the employees’ response to change. Firstly, the leader must influence the employees. This requires the leader to inspire his employees in order to influence them easily. Additionally, the leader should use employ intellectual stimulation when carrying out the change process (Sperry, 2013: 98). The manager can create new positions thus promote productive employees. Remuneration is yet another basic factor of motivation, in case the change promises to increase profitability, and the manager can, therefore, increase the pay of the emp loyees in order to encourage them to adopt the change. Change management further requires the managers to understand their employees. As explained earlier, some employees would adopt change easily while others are inherently resistant to change. By understanding the employees, the management can select the best management technique to employ in order to encourage productivity and acceptance of the changes. Theory X, theory Y and theory Z explain the various traits of employees in an organization. Theory X asserts that employees are inherently lazy and dislike work. As such, the employees require intense supervision without which they remain unproductive. Theory X, on the other hand, argues that employees love their work and are naturally productive. The two

IT 4076 Evaluation and Risk Assessment Research Paper

IT 4076 Evaluation and Risk Assessment - Research Paper Example All organizations are exposed to threats and vulnerabilities that have adversarial impacts on the companies’ operations. Information security professionals have the responsibility of helping the organizations’ management boards to comprehend and control these uncertainties. Threats Threats are the sources and means of particular types of attacks. Threat analysis enables information security experts to determine the most appropriate approaches of securing systems against systems attacks. Security professionals perform penetration-testing exercises to identify threat profiles, develop effective countermeasures against threats and mitigate all earlier signs of threats (Kaiya, Sakai, Ogata & Kaijiri, 2013). The primary focus of threat analysis should be on analyzing the resources of the attackers. It is crucial for all organizations to analyze threats to help them develop specific security policies, which they can implement together with policy priorities and comprehend imp lementation needs for securing organizational resources. Information security threats include accidental disclosure, alteration of software, electrical disruption, acts of nature, and telecommunication malfunction. Vulnerabilities Vulnerabilities are the security flaws that allow a threat attack to be successful in a system. Corporate organizations and private businesses should do vulnerability testing to resolve the vulnerabilities and provide data required to identify unexpected perils to information security. The management boards should realize that such vulnerabilities do not particularly belong to technology class, but also apply to social factors, for example, personal authentication and authorization policies. Vulnerability testing is of paramount importance in maintaining ongoing security and allows the professional responsible for security of the company’s resources to respond to new dangers as they arise (Kevin, Hackney & Edgar, 2010). Testing for vulnerabilities i s also invaluable in developing policy and technology and as part of the technology selection process. It is crucial for buyers to do effective vulnerability tests in order to select the right technology that can save time, money and other costs of business operations. My Encounter with an Information Security Threat I am the Managing Director a telecommunication company that offers postpaid communication services to the residents of Silicon Valley. Recently, I have realized that the costs of making calls were increasing abnormally among the callers. I communicated to my customers and requested from them some information concerning their communication expenditures. I found out that my customers were not really consuming these huge amounts of airtime to make calls. The information security professional made a follow-up and found out that there was massive phreaking and eavesdropping. Hackers were stealing services and using them while passing the costs of making calls to my customers . It was also found that these hackers had stolen credentials and contact information of my customers, which allowed them to control their voice calls, calling plans, billing information and call forwarding. Information is the cornerstone of the company, and its security is of paramount i

Business Law-Tort Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Law-Tort - Essay Example A tort is a legal wrong, and in this case the legal wrong is nothing being done to prevent an accident from happening on the job. It is a company's responsibility to ensure the safety of employees. Kofsy may not of been a direct employee, but he did deliver items to this place of business. He has as much legal rights as an employee as well as patients and visitors to the hospital. What would of happened if a patient wandered out there or a visitor got lost, and tripped and fell down because of that crack That is an endangerment to anyone who comes in contact with that area. Pat Seiple had Kofsy bringing that bed off of the truck to show him the difficulty he was having, and what could possibly happen if he used the steel plate. Technically, knowing that this could injure himself, he shouldn't have done it or at least not done it without help. Pat Seipe had refused to help due to company policies. Kofsy still attempted to bring the bed off of the truck with and without the steel plate, and then when it got stuck he struggled to get it out resulting in his own injury. Who is at fault A tort law helps distinguish who is at fault, and who is responsible for the damages. This case here is considered an unintentional tort due to negligence. The tort law helps focus on the consequences on this accident. First what needs to be determined is whether this case is a 'fault' liability (the plaintiff's fault), or a 'strict' liability (the defendant or both are at fault). In this situation, it seems to me that both are at fault here. Due to the fact that this area was not repaired so deliveries could be made without injuries or damages, and to the fact that Kofsy could of refused to move the bed after it got stuck. He had informed Pat that it would get stuck with the steel plate, and he went ahead to prove it to him. He could of refused knowing what would have happened, and someone could have seriously got hurt. However, it is still the company's responsibility to provide a safe atmosphere for all. This misfortune incurred costs to Kofsy, and it now has to be decided on who is responsible for them. The tort law was developed to allow victims the opportunity to shift the costs that befall them to others. It provides an avenue of redress, but not a guarantee of recovery. The law states, "A's wrong must be the proximate cause of B's harm." (Coleman, Oct. 20, 2003) In other words, it was the hospital's wrong causing Kofsy's harm. Therefore this case would fall under a tort. Under the principle of corrective justice, it is stated, "An individual who has wronged another has the duty to repair the wrongful losses occasioned." (Coleman, 2003) Due to the negligence of repairs, Kofsy has suffered from his injuries, accumulated hospital bills, and lost money from being out of work. Is this area repaired though to prevent future accidents All of this could have been prevented if both parties took safety measures. However, this isn't the case here. We now have to decide on how Kofsy will be compensated if at all. Tort 3 Even though his actions caused this injury by struggling to remove the bed from being stuck by himself, the company still should have had this fixed prior to avoid any injuries. It is not like Kofsy didn't let anyone aware of the damage at the hospital. It should have been fixed right away leaving the discussion of the subject and demonstration out of it. The company should be responsible for all medical bills incurring from what

Leadership & Change Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Leadership & Change - Coursework Example Despite such, the effectiveness of a change process relies on the management techniques employed in an organization with the leadership skills of the managers remaining integral in the process as the discussion below shows. Transformational model of leadership and theory of change mandates the managers with overseeing the change process thus with the responsibility of ensuring the success of the change process (Mullins, 2010: 451). The theory requires managers to boost the morale of the employees thereby introducing the changes systematically in a manner that the employees embrace them. Employee motivation is a basic mandate of human resource management. It influences the employees’ response to change. Firstly, the leader must influence the employees. This requires the leader to inspire his employees in order to influence them easily. Additionally, the leader should use employ intellectual stimulation when carrying out the change process (Sperry, 2013: 98). The manager can create new positions thus promote productive employees. Remuneration is yet another basic factor of motivation, in case the change promises to increase profitability, and the manager can, therefore, increase the pay of the emp loyees in order to encourage them to adopt the change. Change management further requires the managers to understand their employees. As explained earlier, some employees would adopt change easily while others are inherently resistant to change. By understanding the employees, the management can select the best management technique to employ in order to encourage productivity and acceptance of the changes. Theory X, theory Y and theory Z explain the various traits of employees in an organization. Theory X asserts that employees are inherently lazy and dislike work. As such, the employees require intense supervision without which they remain unproductive. Theory X, on the other hand, argues that employees love their work and are naturally productive. The two

Business Law-Tort Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Law-Tort - Essay Example A tort is a legal wrong, and in this case the legal wrong is nothing being done to prevent an accident from happening on the job. It is a company's responsibility to ensure the safety of employees. Kofsy may not of been a direct employee, but he did deliver items to this place of business. He has as much legal rights as an employee as well as patients and visitors to the hospital. What would of happened if a patient wandered out there or a visitor got lost, and tripped and fell down because of that crack That is an endangerment to anyone who comes in contact with that area. Pat Seiple had Kofsy bringing that bed off of the truck to show him the difficulty he was having, and what could possibly happen if he used the steel plate. Technically, knowing that this could injure himself, he shouldn't have done it or at least not done it without help. Pat Seipe had refused to help due to company policies. Kofsy still attempted to bring the bed off of the truck with and without the steel plate, and then when it got stuck he struggled to get it out resulting in his own injury. Who is at fault A tort law helps distinguish who is at fault, and who is responsible for the damages. This case here is considered an unintentional tort due to negligence. The tort law helps focus on the consequences on this accident. First what needs to be determined is whether this case is a 'fault' liability (the plaintiff's fault), or a 'strict' liability (the defendant or both are at fault). In this situation, it seems to me that both are at fault here. Due to the fact that this area was not repaired so deliveries could be made without injuries or damages, and to the fact that Kofsy could of refused to move the bed after it got stuck. He had informed Pat that it would get stuck with the steel plate, and he went ahead to prove it to him. He could of refused knowing what would have happened, and someone could have seriously got hurt. However, it is still the company's responsibility to provide a safe atmosphere for all. This misfortune incurred costs to Kofsy, and it now has to be decided on who is responsible for them. The tort law was developed to allow victims the opportunity to shift the costs that befall them to others. It provides an avenue of redress, but not a guarantee of recovery. The law states, "A's wrong must be the proximate cause of B's harm." (Coleman, Oct. 20, 2003) In other words, it was the hospital's wrong causing Kofsy's harm. Therefore this case would fall under a tort. Under the principle of corrective justice, it is stated, "An individual who has wronged another has the duty to repair the wrongful losses occasioned." (Coleman, 2003) Due to the negligence of repairs, Kofsy has suffered from his injuries, accumulated hospital bills, and lost money from being out of work. Is this area repaired though to prevent future accidents All of this could have been prevented if both parties took safety measures. However, this isn't the case here. We now have to decide on how Kofsy will be compensated if at all. Tort 3 Even though his actions caused this injury by struggling to remove the bed from being stuck by himself, the company still should have had this fixed prior to avoid any injuries. It is not like Kofsy didn't let anyone aware of the damage at the hospital. It should have been fixed right away leaving the discussion of the subject and demonstration out of it. The company should be responsible for all medical bills incurring from what

Stepmothers Sin Essay Example for Free

Stepmothers Sin Essay Professional experience Business manager (NOV 2009 JUL 2010) Unimark remedies ltd, Hyderabad, India * Promotion, marketing and sales of oncology drugs * Taking appointments from oncologists and visiting them in order to promote new products if any, discussions in order to increase the prescriptions for the company`s products * Visiting pharmacy retail and whole sale institutions in order to increase the availability of range of products. Visiting patient wards in various government medical institutions conducting surveys to help the company in public relation programmes * Studying the data describing new products to develop sales approach. * Compiled data on equipment and supplies preferred by customers. * Online report to the head office about the job done and about the competitor activities in the region. Medical representative (MAR 2009 – NOV 2009) Zen life sciences (oncology), Hyderabad, India. * Promotion, marketing and sales of oncology drugs Taking appointments from oncologists and visiting them in order to promote new products if any, discussions in order to increase the prescriptions for the company`s products * Visiting pharmacy retail and whole sale institutions in order to increase the availability of range of products. * Attending class room training and aptitude tests in order learn about new products to develop sales approach. * Giving samples to the customer. * Reporting to the manager about the job done. Medical representative (MAR 2008 – NOV 2008) Lupin pharmaceuticals. Bangalore, India. Promotion, marketing and sales of lupin femina drugs. * Taking appointments from gynaecologists, general physicians and visiting them in order to promote gynaecology drugs and over the counter drugs ( vitamin, calcium and other supplements ) * Visiting pharmacy retail and wholesale institutions in order to increase the ava ilability of range of products, taking orders, checking the storage conditions of the products in their premises. * Attending class room training and aptitude tests in order learn about new products to develop sales approach. Reporting to the manager about the job done. Honours * Registered pharmacist in Andhra Pradesh pharmacy council holding registration number: 060622/A1 * Awarded best trainee in 2009 by Zen life sciences (oncology) * Awarded best seminar and poster presentation on pharmaceutical marketing and administration in 2007. References * Miss Rubina khan , product manager Email: rubina. [emailprotected] com * Mr Rahul rao boinapally, regional manager, lupin pharmaceuticals. Email: [emailprotected] com * Mr Sasankha canuparthy Email :

Application of Marketing Theories to Practice

Application of Marketing Theories to Practice Introduction This report shows the different field of businesses and the methods that our company was using in SimVenture comparing with theories. Marketing and Sales Our companys main marketing tool was advertising but we were using different like direct marketing, exhibitions and our website. However, digital marketing is limited only to website in the game, although this is getting more popular these days (Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette, 2006). Digital marketing defined by Jobber, 2007: The application of digital technologies that form channels to market (the Internet, mobile communications, interactive television and wireless) to achieve corporate goal through meeting and exceeding customer need better than the competition. Digital marketing is almost completely missing from the game, it is only limited to website. Network theory studies relationships of all sorts, whether between people, animals or things. Social network analysis is an overlapping tool for learning about patterns that develop within social networks and how they influence behaviour. Digital marketing channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram are useful in this reg ard, as they allow marketers to listen to what consumers are saying, and they allow marketers to leverage the power of influential users to spread messages throughout their networks (Harvard Business Review, 2006.). Generational marketing theory holds that consumers born of the same generation defined as a 20-year period have common attitudes and behaviours because of shared experiences that influenced their childhoods and shaped their views of the world. The relevance of generational theory to digital marketing is primarily in the ways in which each generation communicates and the online places where marketers can reach them (Zickuhr, 2010.). The customer research in the game is only limited to where the customers heard about but nothing who they are (age, gender, education, etc.). All in all the game had good opportunities in traditional marketing channels like direct marketing and advertisement but digital marketing part is really limited which makes it less realistic. Operations Efficient operations management is a key element to make a company successful. Without supply network a company cannot exist. A supply network perspective means setting an operation in the context of all the other operations with which it interact some of which are its suppliers and its customers. Materials, parts, other information, ideas and network of customer-supplier relationships formed by all these operations (Slack, Chambers, Johnston, 2004.). The supply network view can also help in decision making about the design. The design activity in operations has one overriding objective: to provide products, services and processes which will satisfy the operations customers. During the game our company used Just in time method for the production because if there was more order then our organisation was able to produce then we contracted some out when it was financially possible. Furthermore, in the meanwhile of last year in the game, all of our production was contracted out because t he four employees werent enough to build the product and to handle other task that were essential to run the company at the same time. High dependency theory is one of the explanation of the Just in Time approach to operations management. With high inventories insulating each stage in the production process, the dependency of the stages on one another was low. Take away the inventory and heir mutual dependency increases. The Just in Time practice of empowering shopfloor staff makes the organisation dependent on their actions (Slack, Chambers, Johnston, 2004.). However, this theory perfectly suits with SimVenture, thus it is realistically show the opportunities and limitations of Just in Time delivery and production because in the first year when financially it was not a possibility to contract out some of the production we bumped into some limitations according to the Just in Time manufacture technique. Finance All investments carry with them some degree of risk. In the financial world, individuals, professional money managers, financial institutions, and many others encounter and must deal with risk. Investors can either accept or try to mitigate the risk in investment decision-making (Baker Filbeck, 2015.). However, the game is limited to only two choice of grants and family and bank loans. Decision parameters are: amount, period, interest rate. The game also offers an opportunity to set bank overdraft which can be really useful especially in the beginning of the game when the company has to buy the products component and has to wait until the clients paying. The payback period can be up to 3 months. According to Deakins and Freel (2009) our companys stage of finance is at young stage, due to we paid back our only  £3000 loan from friends and family, although the company is owed 100% by the founders. Business angels capital, internet crowd funding Michael Jensen and William Meckling, in ‘Theory of the firm: management behavior, agency costs and ownership structure’ (1976), note that ‘agency costs arise in any situation involving cooperative effort’ and that, as the firm is essentially ‘a nexus for a set of contracting relationships among individuals’, agency problems are endemic to it. Their analysis focuses on how agency problems can help to explain such questions as: The degree to which a firm is financed by debt or equity; Why firms in some industries are usually owner-operated; Why firms would voluntarily supply shareholders and lenders with accounting reports and have them independently audited. The last point is of most interest for our purposes. Essentially, firms will voluntarily provide shareholders and lenders with independently audited accounting reports because this reduces the monitoring costs associated with contractual relationships with these parties. In the game there is opportunity to make the finance reports in house or to ask an agency to do it for extra costs per each months. Setting up the right price for the product is a key element for running a successful company. Our gross profit per unit is 43% of the whole price which is around average in this industry (Stefan, 2015.). Organisation and growth SimVenture is a game which is run on a managerialist philosophy not an enterprising one (Grant, 2015.). Theories of the small business life cycle have been heavily criticised in recent years for being reductionist and ‘speculatively normative’, relying on formalistic, deductive approaches rather than inductive heuristic methods (Gibb and Davies, 1990). In particular, it is the ‘deterministic assumption that all firms grow through a series of predictable series of preordained stages’ (Merz et al, 1994; p49). Small business growth is characterised by a number of predictable, discrete and consistent stages (Churchill and Lewis, 1983; Hanks et al., 1994; Kazanjian, 1988; Steinmetz, 1969). These stages are sequential in nature and occur as a hierarchical progression not easily reversed (Dodge and Robbins, 1992; Quinn and Cameron, 1983). An important aspect of theorising on the organisational life cycle is that many stage models of small business growth can be con ceptualised as ‘metamorphosis’ models (dAmboise and Muldowney, 1988; Kazanjian, 1988), where the fundamental transition from one stage of growth to another requires considerable change. However, in SimVenture when the firm moved to a bigger office and purchased new equipment for the company the efficiency of the company have been developed to a higher level that also meant that the company is growing. The life cycle literature emphasises that such periodic crises have an important role to play in the development of both the organisation and the individual. (Dodge and Robbins, 1992.). Hiring more employees and train them to be professional in different business fields is also a great method to rise the organisation to a higher level. Upon interpretation, it seems that entrepreneurs have to develop new behaviours and learn to think in radically different ways as a result of managing developmental crises (Greiner, 1972). As Greiner (1972) states, ‘these periods of te nsion provide the pressure, ideas, and awareness that afford a platform for change and the introduction of new practices’ . From this viewpoint, a key assumption behind life cycle theorising is that for a small business to grow, the owner-manager must adapt and modify their perceptions and actions as a result of these discontinuous events in order to facilitate organisational growth. For instance, in the game when the company was financially able to advertise not only in printed media but use the more expensive although more efficient TV and Radio as a marketing channel, the number of orders rising exponentially. That caused profit and sales growth which helped to increment the firm to a higher level as it displayed in the Figure 1.1 below. Figure 1.1 Even though such statements indicate a fundamental process of personal learning and development on behalf of the owner-manager, most life cycle theorists do not address this issue in any significant depth. On the other hand, there are opportunities for training and learning for the owner as well, and it is also developing the skills during the game. The important point to draw from this significant recognition is that learning to become an effective small business owner is not always simple, or inevitable for that matter (Burns and Harrison, 1989). Leadership Entrepreneurs and small business owners are very different because entrepreneurship can be distinguished from small business ownership by a venture strategy oriented toward growth and innovation (Grant, 2015.). Using Team Role theory the word ‘shape’ indicates to us ‘shaper’, whilst the word ‘vision’ implies ‘plant’. Looking at leadership using Handy’s definition is interesting for vision is certainly important to leadership, but does it have to be unique to an individual? Where it is unique to an individual with a drive to enact it such as a ‘Shaper’, strong Solo leadership is likely to prevail. Vision alternatively may be ‘borrowed’ by a ‘Shaper’ who treats it as a product of the self and similarly will adopt a Solo leadership style. Many organisations have rewarded Solo leadership behaviour by promoting individuals to management and leadership positions, for such individuals have met past organisational needs (Handy, 1992.).

The Corruption with Modernization in Faulkner’s The Country :: Faulkner Country Short Stories

The Corruption with Modernization in Faulkner’s The Country The disruption of traditional values and ways of life that accompanied the modernization of the U.S. seems to be a common theme throughout the â€Å"Country† section of Faulkner’s Collected Stories. In â€Å"Barn Burning† Abner Snopes seems to feel that the world is against him: â€Å"Don’t you know all they wanted was a chance to get at me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (8). He sees fire as â€Å"the one weapon for the preservation of integrity† (8), and it is apparent that he feels the disparity in standard of living between farm owners such as Major de Spain, and workers like himself to be an injustice and an injury to him (but then again, maybe he’s just plain evil, as Faulkner’s characterization of him as stiff, cold, and always in dark clothing intimates). In â€Å"Shingles for the Lord,† the â€Å"modern ideas about work† imparted to Solon Quick from his experience with the WPA are presented as ridiculous—labor put toward r epairing a church calculated out precisely into â€Å"work units† (29-30). Could Faulkner be presenting the idea that so-called â€Å"progress† and the introduction of capitalism and government intervention has corrupted people—become the new church at which they worship? In â€Å"The Tall Men,† a sort of Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft theme is evident. I really like this story. It conveys how difficult the changes in the U.S. during the early part of the 20th century must have been for the â€Å"country† people who were tied to the land. New Deal programs like the WPA and AAA, â€Å"three-letter reasons for a man not to work† (58), are a problem for the McCallum’s because the programs made hard work unprofitable and encouraged laziness and dependency as farmers lost autonomy and became beholden to the government. The old marshal, Mr. Gombault, tries to make Mr. Pearson, the government investigator, understand that the McCallum's are â€Å"tall† or prideful men whose self-sufficiency and friendly transactions have not given way to the impersonal deals and something-for-nothing mentality of the new era (it’s interesting that the characterizations of the McCallum's completely contradict Mr. Pearson’s chara cterization of â€Å"these people† as lazy, selfish, and ungrateful or unpatriotic, on page 46). Again in â€Å"A Bear Hunt,† traditional, country people are set apart from â€Å"literate, town-bred people† (65); and in the last two stories, both featuring the Grier family (relation to Res Grier of â€Å"Shingles for the Lord†?

Affirmative Action and Discrimination :: Free Essays Online

Affirmative Action and Discrimination 1. Race relations in general and affirmative action in particular have arguably been the most divisive and hotly contested issues in contemporary American politics. Many people feel that affirmative action is necessary to either counteract injustices or ensure the advancement of certain minorities. Affirmative action proponents generally point to four justifications. These are racism, poverty, diversity, and the problem of underrepresentation. Proponents point out that many blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans live in substandard housing, go to substandard schools, and live in neighborhoods where crime is rampant. They claim that they are victims of daily racism and that this hurts their chances for advancement. Proponents point to small numbers of these minorities in certain desirable jobs (i.e. CEOs of corporations and high elected office) as evidence of underrepresentation of minorities and a need for diversity both in the workplace and in higher education. 2. There are several different levels of affirmative action. They include: quotas, preferences, and outreach, in lessening order of severity. Quotas, also called â€Å"set asides†, deal with having a certain amount of jobs or college spots reserved for a particular group. For example, if a University admits 1000 students every year and sets aside 150 seats that are open to blacks only, this is an example of a quota. In the Supreme Court case Bakke v Regents of the University of California , the court ruled that these quotas could not be used by the system but that race could be considered a plus in admissions to the medical school. This brings us to preferences. Preferences are when persons from certain groups (usually groups that have been underrepresented or disadvantaged) are given a ‘boost' in admissions. An example of this would be the practice at the University of Michigan, which was recently overruled by a U.S. District Court. At the University of Michigan, appli cants are graded on a 150-point scale. Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians get 20 points for their race, equal to raising their grade-point average a full point on a 4 -point scale (Focus on Affirmative†¦). This case has recently been appealed to the Supreme Court, casing new light on this decades old question. The third and least severe form of affirmative action occurs when no preferences are given, but when special efforts are made to recruit members of certain groups. This is called outreach. An example of this would be when a Hispanic student receives a letter from the minority recruitment office at a prestigious university urging him to apply (Ezorsky, 34).

Pervasive Developmental Disorders Essay

The pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) represent a spectrum of difficulties in socialization, communication, and behavior. Autism is the best recognized and most frequently occurring form of a group of the PDDs. Because most of the research in areas related to communication has been done on autism, we will focus here on this particular PDD. However, we should be aware that autism is probably not the most common disorder on this spectrum. Other types of PDDs include Rett’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, or PDDNOS (Twachtman-Cullen 1998). This work will also discuss the distinctive features of Asperger’s syndrome, which is believed to be genetically related to autism. Much of what can be said about certain features of autism and PDDNOS applies to other forms of non-autistic PDD. The goal of this research is to provide a framework for understanding cognitive development in children with PDDs. The study will cover criteria for early PDDs diagnosis. The best-known type of PDDs is autistic disorder (variously called autism or infantile autism). The symptoms of autistic disorder typically increase gradually through the child’s second year, reach a peak between 2 and 4 years of age, and then show some improvement. Young children with greater cognitive ability who receive very early intensive intervention may show dramatic improvement at this age, whereas those who are more impaired will make more modest changes. Persons with autistic disorder exhibit major deficits in their ability to relate to others. The child with autistic disorder often appears content to dwell in a separate world, showing little empathic interest in parents or siblings. Unlike the normally developing baby, the child with autistic disorder may not raise his arms to be picked up or may stiffen in protest when his parents try to cuddle him. The children’s lack of social interest may make some of these babies seem like â€Å"easy babies† because they do not seek parental attention, and appear content to remain in their cribs, watching a mobile or staring at their hands. As they get older, such lack of demandingness is recognized for the relative indifference it actually reflects. The child with autistic disorder may not seek others for comfort when she is hurt or upset, finding little consolation in the gentle words and hugs that are so important to other children. Not only do the children not ask for comfort, they typically are quite indifferent to other people’s distress and do not seem to share their joy. A sibling’s tears or a parent’s happiness may elicit no response from the child with autistic disorder. Children with autistic disorder show little interest in the domestic imitation that most children enjoy. For example, unlike the normally developing child, the child with autistic disorder usually does not use his miniature mower to cut the grass like mommy or pretend to shave while he watches daddy. This lack of interest in imitation interferes with one of the primary channels for learning by young children: their ability to model adult behaviors and master them through role play. Social play is one of the primary activities of childhood. A few simple toys can create the backdrop for long hours of companionship. The child with autistic disorder does not know how to join this kind of play, sometimes completely ignoring other children, or perhaps standing on the sidelines, not comprehending how to become part of the group. Not surprisingly, given the range of social deficits they exhibit, children with autistic disorder are very impaired in their ability to make childhood friends. Within the communication domain, impairments are present in a number of linguistic and nonverbal areas, the most fundamental of which are pragmatics and semantics (i. . , the social usage and explicit or implicit meaning of language and gestures). Although linguistic capability varies greatly across the spectrum (from a total absence of speech to highly sophisticated and erudite language), significant impairments in pragmatics and semantics are universal among individuals with PDDs. They communicate primarily to express needs, desires, and preferences, rather than to convey sincere interest in others, or to share exp eriences, excitement, and feelings. Even among those possessing highly sophisticated and complex language, compliments, words of empathy, and expressions of joy in the good fortune of others are very rare. There is little reciprocity, mutuality, or shared purpose in discussions. In addition, speech and gestural forms of communication are poorly integrated, often resulting in awkward and uncomfortable social interactions. Implicit, subtle, and indirect communications are neither used nor perceived. Expressive communication tends to be explicit, direct, and concrete. During discussions, persons with autism often fail to prepare their speaking partners for conversational transitions, new topics, or personal associations. This can result in digressive, circumstantial, and tangential comments and discussions. It would appear as though persons with autism assume that others are implicitly aware of their experiences, viewpoints, attitudes, and thoughts. The fashion in which these deficits are manifest is influenced by age, overall cognitive level, temperament, and the presence of sensory or physical limitations. In toddlers, for example, impaired pragmatics may be manifested by significant limitations in reciprocal eye contact, responsive smiling, joint attention (mutual sharing of interests and excitement), and social imitative play. In addition, socially directed facial expressions, instrumental and emphatic gestures, and modulation of speech prosody (intonation, cadence, and rate) are rarely used to complement speech, communicate feelings and attitudes, or moderate social discourse. Among preschool children, impairments in symbolic functioning (e. g. , language) are accompanied by serious limitations in pretense (e. g. ymbolic, imaginative, creative, and interactive play). Pragmatic impairments among adolescents with Asperger’s syndrome may be manifested by one-sided, pedantic discussions, with no attempt to involve speaking partners by acknowledging and integrating their experiences, ideas, and viewpoints into conversations. Sincere attempts by others to engage in reciprocal conversations may be met with a lack of acknowledgment, annoyance, and disinterest. Comments or questions that are â€Å"snuck in† by the listener may be experienced as rude interruptions, prompting the directive, â€Å"Wait! I’m not done talking yet† (Bernabei, Camaioni & Levi 1998). The result is a monologue or lecture that often includes abrupt changes of topic and the introduction of unexplained personal associations. This lack of conversational reciprocity suggests that persons with AS and high-functioning autism inherently assume that the listener is implicitly aware of their own experiences, viewpoints, and intent. Because the relaying of factual and concrete information is the primary goal of â€Å"social† dialog among those with ASD, the communication of subtle attitudes, viewpoints, and emotions (particularly secondary emotions, such as embarrassment, guilt, and envy) are largely irrelevant and superfluous. Therefore, emphatic gestures, informative facial expressions, and vocal modulation lack essential meaning for them. The result is that persons with autism generally disregard nonverbal cues and fail to incorporate them into their own discussions. Because this component of social communication often conveys essential information regarding feelings, attitudes, and opinions, an inability to identify, interpret, and produce nonverbal cues can have a highly detrimental effect on social interactions and relationships. Given these impairments, it is not surprising that verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication are poorly integrated, and that subtlety and nuance are rarely conveyed. Figurative and inferential language is another area of communication that is impaired in autism, largely due to a combination of deficits in abstract and conceptual thought, social reciprocity, and appreciation of the subtleties of social communication. Persons with ASD are highly literal and concrete in their language and thought processing, typically failing to understand metaphor, irony, sarcasm, and facetiousness. As a result, comments are often misinterpreted and discussions misunderstood. In addition, in an effort to remain true to the facts, comments and questions are often presented in an overly direct, straightforward, and â€Å"brutally honest† manner, lacking appropriate tact and sensitivity (Szatmari, Jones, Fisman, Tuff, Bartolucci, Mahoney 1995). This can cause embarrassment and distress for the listener and confusion for the speaker with AS. Both may become angry and resentful; the listener, because of emotional distress and perceived mistreatment; the speaker, because of the seemingly unjustifiable overreaction and a negative attitude displayed by the listener. From the perspective of the person with AS, the listener responded in a rude and ungrateful manner to comments that were intended to be informative, useful, and corrective. The emotional distress, embarrassment, and attack on self-esteem experienced by the listener are relatively foreign to the individual with autism. Interestingly, principles, rules, and codes of behavior can be interpreted in a highly concrete and rigid manner. This can result in insensitive and hurtful comments and behavior, because exceptions to the rule, adjustments to unexpected social contingencies, and appreciation for the spirit (not simply the letter) of the law are relatively foreign to those with autism. There is little awareness that rigid adherence to unavoidably flawed rules can result in a situation that is antithetical to the underlying intent of the rule itself. One of the dinning features of autism and Asperger’s syndrome is that of rigidity and inflexibility in response to minor change and transition in the environment and daily routines. This insistence on sameness and invariance can be highly impairing, because the precipitants of these reactions often are of little social significance and do not disturb the smooth functioning of the social world. It is as though persons with autism depend on these inanimate markers of space and time because the social priorities that typically direct schedules and routines have little meaning and significance for them. Asperger’s Syndrome has been associated with cognitive strength since Hans Asperger first described the disorder in the 1940s. When he wrote of children who sounded like â€Å"little professors,† Dr. Asperger (1944/1991) was describing not only their pedantic tone but also their cognitive abilities. The assumption of adequate cognitive skill was reiterated when the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) stated that individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome show â€Å"no clinically significant delay in cognitive development† (Willey 2001). Asperger’s syndrome (AS) was added as a new â€Å"official† diagnosis when DSMIV and ICD-10 were published. In the past, children with AS were sometimes referred to as having schizoid personality, or schizotypal personality, and PDD, NOS. It is now recognized as distinct from autism. AS differs from autism in a number of key ways: first, children with AS may not be detected as early because they may have no delays in language, or only mild delays. In fact, it is usually not until parents notice that their child’s use of language is unusual, or their child’s play is also unusual, that concern sets in. Unlike autism, where the vast majority of children also experience some degree of mental retardation, children (and adults) with AS are rarely mentally retarded although many have low-average intelligence. Children with AS are sometimes described as â€Å"active, but odd† – not avoiding others the way autistic children often do, but relating in a more narrow way, usually centering activity around their own needs and peculiar interests. In fact, having one or more areas of narrow, encompassing interest is highly characteristic of those with AS. Parents often ask whether AS is the same thing as â€Å"high-functioning autism. Research studies have addressed this question, and the answer is â€Å"no† (Fombonne, Simmons, Ford, Meltzer & Goodman 2001). One main difference is that children with AS tend to have fairly comparable verbal and nonverbal levels of intelligence, while higher functioning (that is, less cognitively impaired) autistic children tend to have nonverbal IQs that are markedly higher than their verbal IQs. Another key feature of AS is the presence of intense, preoccupying interests that generally are unusual in nature and highly restricted and narrow in scope and breadth. An impressive store of factual knowledge is accrued on relatively esoteric topics; however, this knowledge is rarely utilized for functional, socially meaningful purposes. Rather, factual knowledge is pursued for its own intrinsic value to the AS individual. In addition, children and adults with AS tend to be physically awkward, uncoordinated, and poor in judging visual-spatial perspective (often failing to maintain comfortable interpersonal space during social interactions). With regard to neuropsychological functioning, verbal abilities are generally much better developed than are nonverbal abilities (e. . , perceptualmotor, visual-spatial). In a majority of cases impairments are present in executive functions, including working memory, organization, and cognitive-set flexibility. Although children with AS are thought to show no general cognitive delay, there is actually a great deal of variability in the specific abilities of individuals. In spite of mass media suggestions that individuals with AS grow up to be scientists or software engineers, we do not yet have data to support this connection. For most children, the PDDs last a lifetime. Although early intervention for many young children with autistic disorder, Aspereger’s disorder, and PDDNOS has produced major developmental changes, the technology has not yet reached the point where the majority of children make the degree of change that allows them to blend imperceptibly into their peer group. As a result, although most children with PDDs benefit in important ways from treatment, many still become adults with PDDs or some significant residuals of PDDs. There are no details of what causes PDDs. There appears to be a genetic contribution to at least some kinds of autistic disorder. For example, Fragile X syndrome is a chromosomal disorder than long has been linked to mental retardation and more recently has been shown to be related to autistic disorder. This disorder gets its name from a narrowing near the end of the long arm of the X chromosome that sometimes makes the tip fragile. Fragile X syndrome shows an X-linked (sex gene-linked) recessive pattern of inheritance. As a result, this disorder typically is transmitted to boys by their mothers. Fragile X syndrome accounts for a small but significant number of boys diagnosed with autistic disorder. General support for the notion that the symptoms of autistic disorder reflect underlying physiological dysfunction comes from research showing that autistic disorder occurs more often than would be predicted by chance among children whose mothers had German measles during pregnancy, that these children experienced a higher than expected rate of problems during pregnancy or birth, and that they are at greater risk for seizures than other children. Findings such as these raise important questions about where in the brain abnormalities may occur and how these neurochemical, biochemical, or neurological factors may be linked specifically to the development of the language, social, affective, and behavioral symptoms that characterize autistic disorder and the other PDDs. The process of accurate diagnosis and classification is an essential endeavor in medicine, because it is key to ensuring validity and reliability, enabling etiological research, and identifying effective methods of treatment. Although ASDs are not medical illnesses in the classical sense, they do result from neurodevelopmental abnormalities that affect social, communicative, and behavioral functioning in fundamental ways. The autism is not a unitary condition with a single etiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and treatment approach; rather, it is a group of related conditions that share many clinical features and underlying social-communicative impairments. The fundamental purpose of arriving at an accurate diagnosis is to promote meaningful research that will eventually lead to effective treatment and an ultimate cure. Accurate diagnosis also enables investigators, clinicians, educators, and parents to communicate clearly, effectively, and efficiently. Ideally, a valid and reliable diagnosis should convey a great deal of information about developmental strengths and weaknesses, short- and long-term prognosis, and treatments that are most likely to be effective. Both basic and applied research endeavors are enhanced by improvements in diagnosis and classification. During recent years, efforts have been made to identify ASD as early in life as possible, in order to begin implementing educational and treatment interventions; providing families with education, support, and community resources; and reducing the stress and anxiety families experience as a result of incorrect or misleading diagnoses. The importance of an early diagnosis is supported by findings of improved linguistic, cognitive, and adaptive functioning as a result of intensive early intervention. Studies have begun to appear in the research literature assessing the reliability and stability of autism diagnoses made during the early preschool years. Experienced clinical investigators have demonstrated that an accurate diagnosis of autism can be made in the second and third years of life. However, accuracy depends on the completion of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary assessment, one that includes the use of standardized diagnostic instruments in conjunction with clinical expertise. Nonetheless, even among experienced clinicians and investigators, false positive and false negative diagnoses are sometimes made. Investigators have begun to examine clinical variables that may be predictive of treatment response and general prognosis. For example, Handleman & Harris (2001) found that preschool children with autism who exhibited low baseline levels of social avoidance experienced significantly more social and linguistic progress than did their high-avoidance counterparts following 6 months of intensive incidental teaching and pivotal response training (provided in an inclusive setting). A complementary strategy for assessing the validity of AS is to examine the pattern of associated symptomatology. In this regard, a recent study investigated emotional and behavioral disturbance (psychopathology) in 4 to 18-year-olds with HFA and AS. The Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC), an informant-based instrument completed by parents and teachers, was used to assess psychopathology. The DBC contains the following six subscales: disruptive, self-absorbed, communication disturbance, anxiety, antisocial, and autistic relating. Children and adolescents with AS exhibited high levels of psychopathology, particularly disruptive behavior, anxiety, and problems with social relationships. The best documented approach to the treatment of people with PDDs is a form of behavior therapy called applied behavior analysis. Since the mid-1960s, when Ivar Lovaas and his colleagues demonstrated that children with autism responded to carefully planned applied behavior analytic techniques, there has been extensive research on the use of these methods to treat the PDDs, especially for autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, and PDDNOS (Durand 1990). Three decades of research have contributed to the development of a substantial array of specific behavioral treatment techniques and of documentation to support the efficacy of these methods in treatment of PDDs. This research also has demonstrated the essential role that parents can play in the treatment of their children by providing consistency of intervention between home and school, or even in some cases as the child’s primary therapist.